The Untold History of the Chamber
by Caliadne
Summary: The untold, secret history of the Chamber of Secrets.


It is a common misconception that the Chamber of Secrets has only been opened twice. The basilisk has only been released twice, that much is true, but its lair has been discovered and visited much more than that. At least twice a century since its creation by Salazar Slytherin, in fact. Tom Riddle isn't the only curious Parseltongue to have stumbled upon his ancestor's secret. Throughout the years, many students found the entrance to the Chamber, either through persistent research or by sheer luck and accident–such as Portia Nelson, in 1917, who had the weird habit of uttering random words in Parseltongue when drunk.

Despite this number of discoveries, the Chamber has managed to remain a secret, a legend with which to scare little children. A few occasions led to it being more well-known for a period, but every time, through means magical or natural, it soon regained its mythical status. The most notable of these instances was in 1014, when Edmund Slytherin, Salazar's least favourite grandson, held in it an end-of-term party to which he invited all his housemates, earning him the dubious honour of being the first student ever to be expelled from Hogwarts. Legend has it that professors had to throw more than a few forgetfulness charms to keep the Chamber from becoming a dance club.

Even though the Chamber of Secrets has a strong association with Slytherin–possibly because of the huge snake sleeping in it–, it is untrue to assume only members of that house ever set foot in it. Lots of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students found it through sheer persistence and studying of Hogwarts history. And Salazar Slytherin would turn in his grave if he knew just how many Gryffindor students had opened the door to his lair (four, not counting Ginny and Harry).

The most recent of which was in 1886. Jerome Mullins was sorted into Gryffindor, surprising him and causing his black-arts-pure-blood-Slytherin-loving family to promptly disown him. In true Gryffindor fashion, he vowed to discover his ancestor's long-lost hidden chamber, therefore proving his worth to his family. After years of research, he finally found the entrance, hissed the appropriate words, and gleefully slid down the pipes, already picturing his parents' faces when he told them all about his feat. But caught up in his exploration as he was, he took a wrong turn, then another, and soon was hopelessly lost in the maze of tunnels and pipes beneath the school. He wandered in the dark and damp Chamber for six days, before finally finding his way out. Needless to say, he never told anybody about his misadventure, least of all his parents.

Five members of Rowena's house found their way to Salazar's lair. None of his descendants were sorted in other houses than Slytherin until Hawisia Crabbe in 1357. She had heard all her life about the legendary Chamber of Secrets, but did not for one second believe it was in fact just a legend. The first day after her sorting, she bent her considerable mind to the task of finding it. She spent every free moment she had in the library, often showing up even before the librarian opened the doors and leaving only when curfew forced her to. If anyone has used the library more extensively than Hermione Granger, it is Hawisia Crabbe. So it was that by November of her first year, she had discovered the object of her search. She never shared the secret with anybody–she didn't have any friends, anyways. She remained a mystery to her classmates for the rest of her schooling: she was seen only in classes, and sometimes at meals and in her dormitory. Nobody ever knew that she spent the major part of her school years below the castle, sleeping in a little nook she'd carved out for herself, eating the food she snuck out of the kitchen, and reading the hundreds of books she'd smuggled down there over the years. To this day, nobody is sure Hawisia Crabbe ever left Hogwarts. There might be a ghost in the Chamber of Secrets nobody has discovered yet.

Seven Huffepuffs discovered the Chamber–only two less than the house of its creator–, proving once and for all that Hufflepuffs really are good finders. Ironically enough, it is a member of this house who came closest to releasing the basilisk before Tom Riddle. Not through any malicious intent, but Melville Gaunt, in 1699, was not the type to leave any stone unturned and once he gained access to the Chamber, he was determined to get to the bottom of each and every secret it hid. He found the secret stash of alcohol one of his predecessors had hidden behind a grate; he discovered a list of previous visitors to the Chamber and carved his name at the end of it; he even stumbled upon a previously undiscovered room in which Slytherin himself had stored rare potion ingredients–some of them still usable! But luckily for everybody, he graduated before being able to figure out how to open the mysterious statue of his ancestor, which was clearly hiding something big. He planned on passing on the secret to his little sister, a fourth-year Slytherin, in the hopes that she'd succeed where he had failed, but by the time the train pulled into King's Cross at the end of the school year, Melville had mysteriously forgotten all about the Chamber of Secrets.

And there you have it. The secret, untold story of the Chamber of Secrets.

Unfortunately, since it is secret for a reason, you can't tell anybody about it. Ever.

No, don't be silly, I'm not going to _kill_ you now. A simple Obliviate should do the trick… I almost never mess up that spell…


End file.
